Travel Technology - Cell Phone in Japan

I have a T-Mobile Dash, quad band, WM6. Had a CDMA phone but decided to go with a GSM phone so that I can use it abroad.

Well, my first trip where I absolutely need to have my US number available is Japan later this month, but my phone supposedly doesn't work. Quite the irony. T-Mobile wants to rent me a cell phone for $15 per day :eek:

Is there any hack that I can install on my cell phone to get it to work in Japan? (It's already unlocked, BTW, and works quite well on ATT and Rogers (Canada) networks.) Or is this simply a case of a different technology in Japan that requires me to carry a new phone?

My only requirement is that my US number work in Japan, for incoming calls. I don't care too much about outgoing calls...

Thanks.

The DASH isn't 3G/WCDMA compliant so there's nothing you can do. The Dopod C730 is VERY similar and will work in Japan. Alternatively, just get a cheapie 3G phone. This (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-SONY-ERICSSON-K600i-K600-UNLOCKED-VIDEO-3G-UMTS_W0QQitemZ290188836730QQihZ019QQcategoryZ64355 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) is one that's quite inexpensive, works well in Japan (I own one), and will work worldwide on GSM as well. Just a cellphone though.

If you need a smartphone, the Nokia E61 is another phone that'll work great but won't cost a fortune. The E61i is much improved but the E61 does the trick. The Cingular E62 WILL NOT work. It has no 3G nor wifi.

Have you also considered forwarding your T-mo phone to a Japanese prepaid number vs roaming while there? Or perhaps leaving a Japanese number on the voicemail greeting?

If you need something NOW, PM me.

Thanks, kanebear.

I don't require email access, so I can live without a smartphone. I did think of forwarding T-Mo to a Japanese prepaid cell but that'll cost me a fortune in T-Mo international call forwarding charges. On the other hand, if I'm roaming in Japan and my phone rings, I'll simply screen the call...

Is there any inexpensive quad band 3G phone, much like the Sony K600 that I can buy here in the US? Or can I buy a cheapie phone on arrival in Tokyo and slap my T-Mo SIM into that phone? I'm already setup for international roaming, so all I need is a phone that'll work in Japan.

I also have a Razr and a Blackberry, not sure which, if any, will work in Japan.

Thanks,
PIT_Flyer

A Nokia 6280 is UMTS/WCDMA capable and new old stock is relatively cheap today. I've used a Motorola A835 UMTS phone before with good results. If you can find a good one it will cost nest to nothing. Now I use a Nokia N73 for traveling and it had came down a lot since last year too..

I WOULD NOT chance trying to buy a phone in Japan when you get there. Phones simply are not sold unlocked that I know of. In fact, I ended up buying a Softbank phone in Hong Kong that was unlocked! It wasn't possible to purchase that in Japan. If you speak Japanese you may have better luck at rooting something out.

My experience has been that in Japan you have MANY MANY shops selling precisely the same things only as they're supposed to be sold. Anything off the beaten path? Good luck. Even trying to find a charger for my Hitachi WiFi VOIP phone proved impossible. No one knew what it was and no one had anything for it (or any other phone they didn't sell).

Don't be afraid of Ebay... I buy there all the time. The larger sellers are very very prompt shippers and often I have items in a day or two if the auction includes express shipping. If you just want to walk into a store to buy something, or order online, CompUSA may still have the Motorola V3X in stock instore which is unlocked and supports Japanese/Euro/Asian 3G as well as quadband GSM. DO NOT get the Razr V3, it's the V3X which should be around $399 or perhaps less. The N76 is also 3G capable. The N95 is expensive but does Euro3G and is widely available. Make sure it IS NOT the US 3G version if you want it to work. Basically anything that DOES NOT support 3G in the US but is a 3G/UMTS/HSDPA phone will work.

You can rent a WCDMA compatible phone at Narita and use your own SIM as well. It is around $6 a day.

http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/service/list/svc_19.html.

If you want a US number in Japan, you can get a US number from a number of places. Look at Callcentric which has US$0.12 aq minute to Japan and sells cheap US numbers.

Alternatively, look at Yackiemobile. They sell a US based phone number tied to a roaming SIM with pretty good rates for Japan.

http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/service/list/svc_19.html.



Awesome, thanks.

Thanks PIT_Flyer for starting this thread. I was also looking for same thing ;)

I did think of forwarding T-Mo to a Japanese prepaid cell but that'll cost me a fortune in T-Mo international call forwarding charges. A cheaper option is not to pay T-Mo's international rates but instead forward the T-Mo cell number to another US number programmed to forward to Japan (or wherever) using a less expensive service.

Awesome, thanks.
See also this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=570238&highlight=cell+phone+rental)in the Japan forum and the Japan Cell Phone FAQ (http://euc.jp/misc/cellphones.en.html).

See also this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=570238&highlight=cell+phone+rental)in the Japan forum and the Japan Cell Phone FAQ (http://euc.jp/misc/cellphones.en.html).

Thanks for the links. Very timely info ^^ for year end Japan trip.

I'm planning on buying a Motorola V1050 (http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_v1050-1123.php)for use in Japan.

How much does it cost to buy a prepaid SIM card in Tokyo? My sister can buy it legally so that's not a problem. I'm trying to determine if it's cheaper to buy a SIM card or just rent one. Softbank rents them for ¥105 per day. Incoming calls and text messages are free but outgoing international texts are ¥150.

I would be using the phone basically for emergencies and texting. I'll be in Japan for a week or so. But if I can get a SIM for about ¥2000 then I'll do that.

I have used my Sony Walkman w880i in Japan a ton. It's a tri-band GSM + 3G.Works great, small form factor. I have T-mobile too.

Not 'inexpensive', but thought I'd add to the discussion of alternatives. They are coming down in price and I really like the phone.

...........


If you need a smartphone, the Nokia E61 is another phone that'll work great but won't cost a fortune. The E61i is much improved but the E61 does the trick. The Cingular E62 WILL NOT work. It has no 3G nor wifi.

If you need something NOW, PM me.

wow the E61i will work?... i had mine about 6 months (corporate phone) and havent been to Japan during that time. i was under the impression that Japan ran something other than 3G

wow the E61i will work?... i had mine about 6 months (corporate phone) and havent been to Japan during that time. i was under the impression that Japan ran something other than 3G

Japan runs a couple of 3G networks and you should be able to use your phone there - I have used several Nokia's there without problem.

You can also use the 8707v blackberry - that is the only 3G Blackberry model and it does work in Japan.

Japan runs a couple of 3G networks and you should be able to use your phone there - I have used several Nokia's there without problem.

You can also use the 8707v blackberry - that is the only 3G Blackberry model and it does work in Japan.

good to know... thx

Docomo uses the 2100mhz 3G band, IIRC. So any European/Asian 3G phone should work. US 3G phones are on a different band ... ATT is on 1900mhz, IIRC. AFAIK, Docomo does not support MMS so expect to only get voice and SMS. I can't speak for the crackberry as I don't use one.

No CDMA phone outside of Japan can work in Japan due to hardware differences -- Au/KDDI uses 850mhz band like Verizon ... but the transmit/receive bands are swapped compared to the rest of the world so it is technologically impossible. I hear that they may "un-swap" it in the next few years.

wow the E61i will work?... i had mine about 6 months (corporate phone) and havent been to Japan during that time. i was under the impression that Japan ran something other than 3G

E61 worked fine in Japan (including the Blackberry Connect function), so I'm quite sure E61i will work fine there too.

does any rental company besides vodafone offer call forwarding for a reasonable amount? (theirs is $2.50 per day regularly, and they have a free version for amex plat cardholders)

this would be to avoid US callers having to pay international rates to japanese cell phone, even though japanese cell phone wouldnt have to pay for the incoming calls.

and it would be for a friend, who im pretty sure does not have the option of using their own phone with sim/roam/etc.

Wirelessly posted (Blackberry 8830: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.0.9751/298; U; en))

does any rental company besides vodafone offer call forwarding for a reasonable amount? (theirs is $2.50 per day regularly, and they have a free version for amex plat cardholders)

this would be to avoid US callers having to pay international rates to japanese cell phone, even though japanese cell phone wouldnt have to pay for the incoming calls.

and it would be for a friend, who im pretty sure does not have the option of using their own phone with sim/roam/etc.

You can get an American skype-in number for a nominal monthly charge in addition to $0.17 a minute.

Hi all-

I've got a Sprint 8830 World edition BB. I'm told by SPCS that I can buy a local SIM Card in Tokyo and pop it in my BB and will have access to my data. Anyone have experience with this? Trying to figure out what local carrier to get my SIM card through and how much I should expect to pay/how can I get it. etc.

Any details will be appreciated.

Thanks,

It won't work. The 8830 doesn't support WCDMA 2100mhz. Moreover, you can't buy a local SIM card in Japan. You need to be a resident. The rules on prepaids changed a few years back. You can rent a Japanese SIM at Narita, but you can't buy one. Again, your phone won't work in any event.

South Korea and Japan don't follow international standards. Sorry.

Great so much for Sprint's crappy and totally unhelpful BB international service team that I just spoke with.
I appreciate the response.

ewick12,

http://www.vodafonerental.com/Japanese-Phone-Rental.aspx
free incoming calls
$4 rental, daily
$2.50 call forwarding, daily

(amex plat get free call forwarding, delivery, and $25 in calls)

wondering if there are any others with free incoming + forwarding for less than that.

ewick12,

http://www.vodafonerental.com/Japanese-Phone-Rental.aspx
free incoming calls
$4 rental, daily
$2.50 call forwarding, daily

(amex plat get free call forwarding, delivery, and $25 in calls)

wondering if there are any others with free incoming + forwarding for less than that.

I would be very glad if you are in fact right. When I go through the AMEX Plat site it says "Call charges per minute $2.99" and doesn't differentiate from incoming and outgoing. And when I click "coverage and pricing" and choose Japan, it says "All calls: $2.99" but when I go through the regular site, it says "Incoming : Free" and "Outgoing : $3.29."

To further confuse me, on the Japan cell phone page, it says "Free incoming calls (to the phone user)" but that doesn't really jive with the other information. I'm still confused I guess; maybe I'll give them a call/email.

Also, how does the free call forwarding work? I find it hard to believe that it's actually 100% free. No cost for the caller or the recipient? And how do I set it up?

i take it from your comments that $6.50 is a reasonable deal for this?

indeed, the site is pretty bad.

amex plat get "youtome" a free 1-800 number for people in the US to use to call the phone.

BTW, UK also gets free incoming calls on the international cell phone.

so its only free for UK and JP, because they have free incoming calls. so free incoming + free (US ONLY) dial out = nice deal.

also note i called them (i believe before worldroam was acquired by vodafone) in 2006 before a europe trip, and the rep confirmed it works like i described above for the UK. i did not end up doing it, because it wasnt really necessary and i ran out of time.

would it be acceptable for me to request my posts here be moved to the japan forum?

Actually, I was going to propose a Japanese phone sticky. The question comes up here all the time.